This is the nail-biting moment a zoo employee dodges a large alligator that swims straight for him while retrieving a woman’s phone after she accidentally dropped it in the enclosure.

Phone footage captured by another visitor – named Mr Zhang in local media – shows the worker fishing out the woman’s phone from a small pond in the enclosure at Hangzhou Zoo, in eastern China’s Zhejiang Province.

Zhang said he previously saw the woman drop her cell phone in by accident and was unsure of what do to.

But a staff worker stepped up and entered the gator’s den to help her get it back.

In the video, he can be seen climbing over a barrier that is roughly his own height and entering the shallow pool.

He tries to retrieve the cell phone from the water using a metal rod, but without success.

He then bends down and uses his hand to pick up the phone.

On the grass a few feet away lies an alligator that is about five feet long.

When it sees the man, it quickly crawls towards him, seemingly preparing to attack.

The man manages to quickly grab the phone and hops on a piece of wood above the water to evade the dangerous reptile.

Seconds later, the gator swims past him amid the loud gaps of frightened visitors.

Zhang told local media he did not know if there were other alligators nearby, but regardless, he considered the man’s actions very dangerous.

A spokesperson from Hangzhou Zoo later confirmed the man who retrieved the phone was a staff member, adding they could not say for sure if the alligator posed a danger at that moment or not.